By 2050 there will be “more plastics than fish (by weight)” in the ocean, according to the recent study “The New Plastics Economy: Rethinking the Future of Plastics,” released by the World Economic Forum and Ellen MacArthur Foundation.¹ 

Ben R. Kneppers, an engineer from the USA working with the government in Chile on sustainability and environmental issues, was joined by two friends, Kevin J. Ahearn and David M. Stover, also U.S. engineers with a shared desire to do something about the growing amount of plastics in the ocean. Together they formed Bureo, a company that manufactures skateboards and sunglass frames from reclaimed nylon fishing nets.

They also set up Net Positiva, a collection program for discarded fishing nets that offered multiple benefits. Net Positiva simplified acquiring material for the skateboards, reduced the number of nets reaching the ocean, and began to clean up the beaches.

For these engineers, who are also lifelong skateboarders and surfers, concentrating on nets was a natural move. They share an affininty for oceans and are especially moved by the marine life carnage caused by “ghost” nets—the lost or discarded nets that degrade slowly, if at all, and continue to entrap everything from sardines to whales. 

Some estimates suggest fishing nets account for approximately 10% of the plastic in the oceans. An example that gives an idea of the amount of nets lost in the ocean is offered by Edward Humes in his book Garbology. He says three thousand nets are estimated to be loose in Washington’s Puget Sound—a body of water well known as a habitat for large numbers of marine animals.²

Bureo = “The Waves”

The company name “Bureo” is derived from the indigenous Mapuche language word meaning “the waves.” The company founders want the name to connect the skateboards and sunglasses to the ocean and their fishing net origins and to acknowledge respect for Chile’s indigenous people. David Stover says the Bureo name itself is also intended to resonate further, associating ocean waves with waves of change in how we care for our environment. Bureo hopes to be a successful inspiration for all ocean-cleaning efforts, large and small.

Chile has nearly 4,000 miles (6,400 km) of coast with the coastal waters worked hard by a vital fishing industry, including more than 13,000 vessels of all sizes, from rowboats to ships. Despite diminishing stock, more than a million tons of fish per year are landed. The sheer size of the fishing industry means a lot of nets: a reliable, long-term supply of raw material to sustain a net-dependent recycling enterprise.In addition to a desire to reduce the discarded nets that reach the ocean, as engineers with well-honed instincts for the practical, the Bureo team recognized fishing nets as being eminently recyclable.

A recycling program works best when the reclaimed material is dependably homogenous. For all practical purposes, the nets found on Chile’s shores are nearly all made of nylon. Most contaminants in the nets are easily found shells, vegetation, a scattering of ropes and tag lines made of other plastics or natural materials, and an occasional fish hook, all easily removed.

A Net Positiva 

The Net Positiva program was in place before there was a plan to transform nets into skateboards. The Net Positiva program was initially planned to stand on its own merits. It was designed to provide a network of environmentally sound, strategically located places for fishermen to deposit unwanted nets.

When no longer useful as nets, nets are difficult for fishermen to discard. They can be heavy and unwieldy and occupy a lot of space. With no net-dedicated disposal program in place, it’s easy to understand the attraction of dumping them overboard or leaving them anywhere on the beach. 

It turns out that trying to come up with a way to use so many old nets along the shore was inspirational for the Bureo crew. Their moment of inspiration was the moment they realized they could recycle nets into skateboard platforms. 

As so often happens with Bureo, good practices—doing the right thing for the right reasons—produces multiple benefits. In this case the Net Positiva net collection program does double-duty and becomes a valuable recyclable material supply network for making skateboards. In 2015, Net Positiva involved 16 communities, collected 110,000 pounds (50,000 kg) of discarded fish nets, and produced 9,000 individual products.

Alchemy

Bureo skateboards are made in Santiago, Chile, by Comberplast S.A. Each skateboard platform contains about 30 square feet (2.8 m²) of nylon net.

The heart of the reclaiming process is a classic EREMA 1310 TE recycling system. The cleaned and shredded nylon nets are fed into the large vertical preconditioning unit that uses friction to compress, size-reduce, and pre-warm the material. The preconditioning unit blends the scrap materials while they are in the chamber. Any scrap, which may be inconsistent in its material makeup and amounts, is blended to produce a steady, predictable melt.

The preheated, densified material is then fed directly to the extruder screw. Compression and melting occur gradually, at a precisely controlled temperature, adding minimal heat history to the reclaim. 

In this process, the nylon nets are transformed into high quality, easily used pellets. The nylon pellets, with a fiberglass additive for stiffness, are injection molded into finished skateboard platforms. The sunglasses frames are produced from 100% recycled fishing nets.

The platforms on the Minnow, Bureo’s first skateboard, are fish-shaped and feature a signature textured, fish-scale surface. Their wheels are extraordinary Eco-Cruisers fitted with 100% recycled urethane cores.

Distinctive and easily recognized, Minnows are becoming inspiring icons of success for all involved in working for cleaner oceans. Along with Bureo sunglasses, they are now widely recognized as emblems of effective recycling based on
amazingly effective design, sound engineering, and quality-conscious manufacturing. 

Altruistic Activism: An Effective Marketing Strategy

For Bureo there seems to be little difference between the altruistic and the practical. The Minnows are an integral, inseparable part of Bureo’s marine and coastal cleanup campaign. The expectation is that to look at a Minnow, to ride one, or to consider purchasing one, seals the deal while also connecting the rider or customer to a new world of environmental appreciation.

Recently, the Bureo team participated in the Our Ocean 2015 conference in Valparaíso, Chile, serving on a panel discussing ways to divert the waste stream from entering the ocean, a goal for which recycled skateboards are a tangible, if modest, example of success. During the conference U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry took the time to appreciate a Minnow and be photographed while admiring it.

Also recently, Britain’s Prince Charles, who has a stellar record of supporting events for cleaner oceans, was photographed with a Bureo skateboard being presented to him by Hugo Tagholm, head of @surfersagainstsewage, one of the many groups who have a mutually supportive relationship with Bureo. 

The Bureo team participates in conferences, gives talks, participates on panels, and, perhaps most importantly, maintains mutually supportive connections to other active environmental groups. They have a gorgeous website and participate in social media. All they do seems to be the right thing to do, and it’s fun and has a sense of being effortless. Essentially, Bureo’s marketing strategy, by design or not, is an excellent example of what can be done today. Most likely, however, it can’t be faked.

References

1. Plastics News, Jan. 20, 2016, www.plasticsnews.com/article/20160120/NEWS/301219999/report-more-plastic-than-fish-in-the-worlds-seas-by-2050

2. Humes, Edward, Garbology: Our Dirty Love Affair with Trash, Avery, 2012, p. 112.

About the author… Dr. Gerold Breuer is head of marketing and business development at EREMA. Breuer received his doctor´s degree in technical sciences with a focus on polymer science from Johannes Kepler University in Linz (Upper Austria) in 2008.

Note: See also the article “Equipment Innovations Give a Big Boost to Plastics Recycling” in this supplement to learn about EREMA’s newest recycling technologies.